Sena should not change its stance under pressure: Fadnavis

Former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday cautioned the Shiv Sena against coming under pressure from the Congress over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.

He was responding to the statement by CM Uddhav Thackeray that the Sena won't back the Bill in the Rajya Sabha till there is clarity on the party's queries posed in the Lok Sabha.

Fadnavis, Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, said Shiv Sena should not come under pressure from Congress in order to save the state government while taking stand on issues like CAB and NRC.

Talking to reporters, Fadnavis said Shiv Sena had supported the Bill in Lok Sabha on Monday but now Thackeray had taken a different stand for Rajya Sabha.

"Shiv Sena should stick to its old stand on CAB and NRC and not change it to save the Maha Vikas Agadhi (MVA) government," he said.

The Lok Sabha passed the Bill, which seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees coming from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan after facing religious persecution there, a little past midnight on Monday after a heated debate that lasted over seven hours.